Top U.S. law enforcer brings trust-building tour to Oakland

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is joined by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, (left) and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, as they begin a meeting with with local politicians and community leaders for a round table discussion about improving relationships between law enforcement and communities, at the Ron Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Ca., on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is joined by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, (left) and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, as they begin a meeting with with local politicians and community leaders for a round table ... more

San Francisco Police recruits with the 244 class play basketball with kids at Willie Mayes Boys & Girls Club, as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

San Francisco Police recruits with the 244 class play basketball with kids at Willie Mayes Boys & Girls Club, as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with law enforcement and community leaders about improving ... more

Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wins a basketball tip-off against San Francisco Police recruit Alexander Ortega, after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two, during a visit to the Willie Mayes Boys & Girls Club, on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wins a basketball tip-off against San Francisco Police recruit Alexander Ortega, after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between ... more

Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder talks with the children and staff after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two, during a visit to the Willie Mayes Boys & Girls Club, on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder talks with the children and staff after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two, during a visit to the Willie Mayes ... more

Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder joins in on a photo after he met with local law enforcement and community leaders and talking about improving relationships between the two, at the Willie Mayes Boy 7 Girls Club, on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder joins in on a photo after he met with local law enforcement and community leaders and talking about improving relationships between the two, at the Willie Mayes Boy 7 Girls ... more

Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is shown around the by club house director James Holley, after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two, during a visit to the Willie Mayes Boys & Girls Club, on Thursday Feb. 5, 2015. less

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is shown around the by club house director James Holley, after meeting with law enforcement and community leaders about improving relationships between the two, during a visit ... more

Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Top U.S. law enforcer brings trust-building tour to Oakland

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The visit to Oakland on Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was part farewell tour, part fact-finding mission.

Holder, scheduled to leave his post in a few weeks, spoke with East Bay elected officials, police chiefs and community leaders at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building about how to build trust between law enforcement and the local communities they serve.

President Obama has charged Holder with this trust-building task, and Oakland was the sixth city he has visited. He’s already been to Atlanta, Memphis, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit. The idea is to strengthen local-federal partnerships and foster relationships between police and community.

The news media were invited to the Oakland event, but only, it turned out, for the brief opening statements. So only time will tell whether this was a genuine effort.

The issue Holder was there to discuss is clearly a tough one. In recent months, the nation has seen mass protests following decisions not to prosecute police officers involved in the deaths of unarmed African American men in Missouri and New York.The Obama administration is addressing the situation as a national problem — and a concern over racial inequality that has been growing in recent years.

“Our aim is to come up with ways to reduce crime while keeping Americans safe and upholding our notions of fairness and equality,” Holder said in the brief remarks before the news media.

Those who participated in the meeting with Holder included U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, Oakland police Chief Sean Whent and Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus. On the community side, Olis Simmons, executive director of Youth UpRising, a privately funded teen center in Oakland; Junious Williams, who heads the Urban Strategies Council; and Bishop Bob Jackson, pastor of Acts Full Gospel, one of Oakland’s largest church congregations, were there.

In recent interviews, Holder has referred to improving relations between police and urban minority communities as part of Obama’s “legacy.”

If that is the case, then there is a lot of work to be done between now and the end of the president’s term.

Tracking inadequate

One of the first things the federal government must do is devise a system for tracking questionable officer-involved shootings around the nation, because no such system exists.

Last month, Holder announced an expanded definition of profiling to include gender and nationality, but it applies only to federal officers, although airport security personnel are exempt.

If Holder and the White House are looking for alternative methods to policing, combining social service, community volunteerism and special programs for at-risk youthful offenders, they came to the right place.

Magnus has turned Richmond from a high-crime city to one that is managing crime with new policing techniques and programs aimed at connecting with kids from communities that sit along the fringes of mainstream American life. In 2013, Richmond had its lowest homicide total in more than 30 years.

City programs

The Richmond Office of Neighborhood Services, a city agency, engages young African American men who have served prison sentences and provides a stipend to those who engage in self-improvement programs, from high school equivalency to job training programs.

In Oakland, a city where police-community relations have long been strained, the Police Department has worked to minimize confrontations with citizens. The department has gone nearly 18 months without an officer-involved shooting and was recently honored for modern-day advances in crowd control at demonstrations.

“Our use of force is way down, officer-involved shootings are down, and we are a lot more focused on how we go about doing things,” Whent said.

“We still take people to jail, but we take the right people and don’t measure our success in the number of arrests,” he said. “We count our successes in safe neighborhoods, and we focus on people causing the trouble and not creating a police state in the process.”